Franklin County Junior Golf Tour concludes another successful summer

Thirty-two years have passed, and the Franklin County Junior Golf Tour continues to thrive.

On Thursday, the FCJGT concluded its 2013 summer schedule with its now-annual championships at Penn National's Founders Course.

The Tour's evolution was clearly evident, with trophies being presented to the top-three finishers in each division while the overall champions were awarded Titleist bags as an added bonus – all part of Frank Wells' ultimate vision.

In his third year as director, Wells' commitment to expanding the game to the area's youth cannot be understated, with Wells traveling from his new residence in North Carolina back to Pennsylvania in order to oversee each of the Tour's nine tournaments.

"It was a little harder than I thought it would be, but we planned accordingly and only needed to make four separate trips back home," Wells explained. "I wasn't ready to hand it over and I've already started working on next year."

On average, the FCJGT boasted a field of roughly 40-45 competitors for the 18-hole events in 2013, down slightly from a 50-60 average one year ago.

Still, 53 total participants signed up to play, with divisions being split up by age and gender – Burke (boys 16-18), Gontz (boys 13-15), Kacy Straub (girls 13-18), Breed (boys 12-and-under) and Junior Girls (girls 12-and-under).

"We lost some kids, but overall, I was still pleased with the turnout," Wells said. "The younger divisions really had some good numbers, which was nice to see."

In terms of the schedule, nine-hole-only events at Rocky Spring and Conocodell replaced tournaments held at Carroll Valley and Great Cove in 2012, something Wells hopes to address by adding more full-field events moving forward.

"The schedule took somewhat of a step back," Wells acknowledged. "We picked up a few tournaments, but they were only nine holes. We're trying to add more 18-hole events for next year, beginning with Black Rock."

This summer, the Tour made stops at some of the area's premiere venues, including two dates at Penn National along with trips to Waynesboro Country Club, Chambersburg Country Club, Whitetail and Mountain View.

"The courses are very gracious and really open up their facilities to us," Wells said. "We get to play at a lot of great places and it's pretty neat to have that kind of support."

While there is certainly a competitive aspect to each tournament, the overall theme of offering an enjoyable experience still serves as the Tour's fundamental value.

"Sure it's a competition, but it's all about the kids having fun," Wells said. "All-in-all, I think we accomplished that again this year. It's very gratifying for me to see how excited the kids get to play and then how eager they are to share their scores at the end."

With Wells already committing to expand and enhance the experience in 2014, the FCJGT is poised to remain a summer mainstay for years to come.

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